If BB were to be on iPhone, Android….

Posted by admin Headlines Thursday, June 27th, 2013

By LAJU ARENYEKA

If the rumours were anything to go by, it should have happened yesterday. From yesterday, June 27, Iphone and Android users should have been able to download the Blackberry messenger service on their phones. But it did not happen. Blackberry and Iphone users are still keeping their fingers crossed for that digital revolution.

According to a recent report, out of the 4 million Nigerians who use smart phones, 46%-1.8 million people- use blackberries. The same report also shows that 95% of Nigerian BB users use the BBM, this is much higher than the global average. What could it mean for these people and Nigerians as a whole if the BBM is available on other smart phones? Here are some speculations we came up with:

Blackberry shift: Time without number, blackberry users have implied that the BBM is their major reason for using the blackberry. Relatively fragile, and with a short battery span, the reasons are not farfetched. If many Nigerians get the bbm of the blackberry, the resilience of the nokia and the aesthetics of the Samsung in one device, they are very likely to take it. RIM might as well be giving away the Nigerian market if they make the BBM free for all.

Blackberry Ban: Do you remember the Federal Government’s proposed ‘Lawful interception of communications regulations?’ It is a bill which would make it mandatory for any licensee in the nation’s telecoms market to provide access to its communications facilities for necessary interception by the law enforcement agencies.

Blackberry services could be at risk of being banned in the country as this regulation will run counter to the technical operating standards of the phone’s distinct network. The National Communications Commission might be less skeptical about enforcing this if there are less people attached to the beloved blackberry.

No longer a status symbol: For years, the blackberry has been a status symbol for many Nigerians. Of course the craze is not as intense as it was when the movie Blackberry babes came out, but with the cheapening of the bbm, the blackberry may just turn out as an ordinary phone after all.

Lower prices: RIM could decide to reduce the prices of blackberry phones in wake of these happenings. But with their stocks plummeting in western countries, it is a fifty-fifty chance.

Where will everyone go?: There are so many ifs that come to mind here. If the BBM is available to other smart phones, and if people abandon the blackberry brand because of that, our guess is that Samsung smart phones might gain more popularity, closely followed by the iPhone and Nokia smart phones. But the truth remains that we would never know, it might just remain a rumour after all!

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